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Empty Theatre by Jac Jemc (Book Review)
Empty Theatre
By Jac Jemc
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux,
Print Price: $28
By Jac Jemc
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux,
Print Price: $28
What you have in this book is two idiots who somehow find themselves both rulers, one of a kingdom, and the other a co-ruler of an empire.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria would rather finance Richard Wagner's latest opera and build elaborate castles right out of chivalric romances than get down to the nitty gritty of ruling his land. He's been spoiled from the day he was born in terms of material wealth. Emotional support from his parents...well, let's just say its nonexistent.
Empress Elizabeth of Austria, Ludwig's cousin, who is known better as simply Sisi, was caught up in the glamour of being wooed by an emperor, but quickly figures out that her role is more akin to a prisoner. Her mother-in-law, the Archduchess, controls everything and everyone is just concerned with Sisi being a baby factory for male heirs. Even when she has babies, the Archduchess whisks them away to be raised as royalty who have more attachment to her than her natural mother.
Meanwhile, Ludwig is running his kingdom into the ground with all his wasteful financial expenditures while Sisi and her husband have to deal with the increasing nationalism spreading through their empire which will ultimately lead to a century of death and destruction in Europe.
The novel generally alternates between chapters about Ludwig and Sisi from their young lives until their deaths with them corresponding and meeting each other from time to time. The author Jac Jemc admits at the end of the book that she took a lot of liberties with the source material and says that the two real life figures themselves constructed a novel of their lives to suit their own viewpoints.
Early on, you can tell the political stripe of Jemc when she says the Crusades "marked one of the darkest moments of human history, a pure and unveiled campaign of extermination, erasure, intolerance". I guess she seemed to forget that the Arabs went on war campaigns all throughout the Mediterranean and conquered what used to be most of the Roman Empire. As for erasure, the Hagia Sophia USED to be a church. Once it was conquered by Muslims, it was converted to a mosque. Hmmm, erasure? I'm sure no innocent was killed in these wars right? Muslims good, Christians bad.
Once I got past that moment of historical idiocy, I actually enjoyed the book. It recalled moments of Harry and Meghan in the sense that you have two people who act like they want to escape from the powers and duties of their rank but show no qualms in exercising that power when it suits their ends. Yes, I want absolute power but no responsibilities. I have no interest in the nuts and bolts of ruling. I have no interest in making my nation better. I have no interest in helping my people.
I will say Sisi is the more morally sound of the two. She does try to help unfortunates from time to time, but she was more concerned with her hair and waistline instead of diplomacy or statecraft. They are both pretty revolting people really. Ludwig reminded me a bit of a foreshadowing of Michael Jackson, a person that had so much money they could insulate themselves from adulthood. Sisi too comes off as a child trapped in an adult body, who only towards her end was able to carve out spiritual space for herself.
I enjoyed the book but it wasn't good enough to keep so I will definitely be putting it in the donation pile. Also, Jemc as an author did not really impress me enough to seek out another work by her. The ending of this novel was almost laughably bad right out of Elvis and Jim Morrison conspiracy theories.
My Grade: B
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
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